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0 Age of Wonders 4 continues to grow with Rise from Ruin, a downloadable expansion developed by Triumph Studios and published by Paradox Interactive. The expansion released on March 9th for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox. Players who have already purchased the Expansion Pass 3 will be able to add this DLC to their game library for free as part of the season pass.
Nomads of the Astral Barrens
Age of Wonders 4: Rise from Ruin introduces players to a whole new world known as the Withered Worlds, where a cataclysmic magical disaster has twisted and turned the entire landscape into a sandy, inhospitable hell. From these sands of chaos, a new resilient tribe emerges known as the Harefolk, who have survived the catastrophe thanks to their keen instincts and adaptability. The expansion’s story centres on uncovering the origins of this magical devastation, drawing players into the shrouded mystery surrounding ancient archmages known as the Unmakers and the destructive forces they’ve unleashed.
Gameplay
This expansion pack was not made for the easy-going, laid-back, relax-after-work players. The difficulty setting in these deserted, barren lands is cranked up to the max. I strongly suggest that all newcomers run a test on easy mode first to get acquainted with all the new races, units, world magic, spells, and more. Triumph Studios has clearly dedicated a lot of time to making this DLC more than just a few new cosmetics and spells. Although the labour put into this expansion pack is praiseworthy, the sheer amount of new things can feel a bit overwhelming at first. So let’s dig in!
Welcome to the Nomadic Lifestyle
The first thing that stood out to me was just how drastically different and new this expansion feels, compared to any previous one. The nomadic lifestyle of these new races is deeply ingrained in both combat and city building. For example, my Harefolk were able to, within one single turn, pick up and leave a city, put all their belongings in a City Barge, and rebuild somewhere new. A completely new concept compared to the previous Age of Wonders games, where building or looting a city had drastic consequences on army morale, diplomatic relations, long-term strategy, and more. Now, with the nomad races, players can just pick up their city into a single barge and rebuild it within a few turns.
That same nomadic philosophy is seen among troops fighting in combat. I was able to use weak but fast-moving units, such as the Looters, to scavenge the battlefield for resources and quickly pass them on to my other units. Mobility is a huge factor among the Harefolk. For example, the Wind Warriors can, in an instant, switch places with another unit that is under attack, thus rescuing those weakened units and delivering a sucker-punch surprise attack on the enemy.
Chaos Magic
Rise from Ruin shakes up the familiar formula of Age of Wonders 4 by dropping players into realms that have been devastated by magical catastrophe. These shattered landscapes introduce new hazards like the Astral Barrens; a hostile terrain where magic simply doesn’t behave the way you expect it to. Mana dries up, magical nodes collapse into ruin, and armies that rely heavily on enchantments suddenly find themselves struggling to keep up. It’s a clever new way of forcing long-time players to rethink strategies that previously revolved around stacking spells and buffs.
To make things even more unpredictable, Rise from Ruin also introduces the real risk of a spell backfiring. In certain environments, spells have a chance to go sideways. Instead of neatly resolving world spells, there is now a chance to get unexpected side effects. In some cases, spells can backfire entirely. It’s entertaining, as much as it is aggravating, to watch your own spell fizzle out and cause chaos. It’s a fun little twist for sure, but one that makes casting powerful spells feel a lot less routine and a lot more like playing with combustible arcane fire.
From these wrecked worlds, new wildlife and monsters emerge from every corner. Personally, I found these giant sand worms to be somewhat derivative of the Dune novels and movies. It is without a doubt a fearsome beast, so tread with care and only engage in combat once you’ve amassed a significant army.
Graphics & Audio
Graphically, Rise from Ruin pack doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It’s an expansion pack of the original game after all. That being said, Age of Wonders 4 has very elevated graphics demands. I encountered performance dips constantly, especially during combat when the screen is full of units and spell effects. Lowering graphical settings and resolution definitely helped with playing on my four-year-old laptop.
The soundtrack does a great job of reinforcing the game’s fantasy atmosphere. The background music shifts between calm, almost mystical themes when exploring the world map and more dramatic orchestral cues during combat. Speaking of combat, no game gets quite the distinctive sound of magic crackle like the Age of Wonders series. The game continues to stand out with its great sound effects during combat.
Longevity
Given the difficulty level of this DLC, Rise from Ruin can definitely give even the most experienced players quite the trouble. Which translates into players possibly losing and dying a couple of times before getting the hang of it. As mentioned above, I’d recommend players first try out on easy mode to get acquainted with the new mechanics, new cultures, tomes, and enemies before venturing into long campaigns or joining an online game.
Like other Age of Wonders 4 expansions, Rise from Ruin doesn’t just add a short 10-hour campaign like other games do. Rather it adds to the world of Age of Wonders 4 itself. Thus making replayability much more worth it. These new world mechanics, like Devouring Winds and unstable magic, fundamentally change the rules of the game and, consequently, how players strategically approach the campaign. It’s hard to estimate longevity in a classical sense, but I would say Rise from Ruin can give players at least somewhere between 30 and 40 hours of fresh, new gameplay.
Final Thoughts
I very much initially underestimated how much new content Rise from Ruin would deliver. I was pleasantly surprised to see this expansion pack be more than just a few new cosmetics, creatures, weapons, magic spells, and such. Triumph Studios has really cooked something new here that radically changes the rules of magic and the rules of combat, thus challenging players to rethink every move at least twice.
This expansion pack definitely keeps you on your toes and brings an abundance of new adventures to an established fantasy strategy game. The new addons add a layer of difficulty in a good way without breaking with the core experience. It is highly entertaining and fun, if you’re up to the challenge!
I hereby award Age of Wonders 4: Rise From Ruin the ThumbCulture Gold Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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